Brea ran her thin fingers through her long, blond hair, then pushed a strand of dark purple, which was streaked through the front, out of her eyes and behind her ear. She glanced around the court room slowly, drinking in the sights. Along the uncomfortable bench she was seated on were around 10 other previously frozen Neopians who had served their time and were ready to start over...each of them had a different look on their face, ranging from ecstatic glee at finally getting out of the hellhole that people called prison, to looks of sorrow on some, sorrow that had been there since the day they stepped into the prison. Brea herself was sure to keep up a mask of indifference...none of the people cared how she felt anyway, so it wasn't like they needed to know. 2 years with nothing to do but dwell on the past had left their toll on the 18-year-old, and she no longer trusted anybody or anything.
As the judge, clad in black, strode into the room each of the ex-prisoners stood...Brea remained seated until a guard beside her prodded her into raising to her feet. She shot him a nasty glare then looked back at the judge, who was motioning for everybody to sit.
"That accomplished a lot." She mumbled, squirming slightly on the seat and trying to get comfortable.
The judge cleared his throat loudly and picked up a large stack of papers, flipping through them carelessly. After quickly looking over each one he set most of the papers down, only keeping one.
"Wonderbreadgirl?" He asked, his eyes turning towards the bench of people who had been frozen.
First. Joy. Brea thought, standing up silently.
"Served 2 years for having 30 pets, eh? Were you using them to cheat, then?"
"I adopted them because they had no homes, not because I needed more money. Believe me, I had plenty of NP and items, and I DIDN'T cheat to get it."
The judge nodded at her and looked at the paper again.
"Well, I can see no reason to keep you here any longer. Welcome back, Wonderbreadgirl. There will be a bus leaving for the registration center as soon as the rest of these people have been through their trial. You can feel free to wait inside or out, whichever you choose."
Without another word Brea walked to the back of the courtroom where two huge double doors lead to the outside world...a world she hadn't been part of for just over two years. The weather outside was amazing...the sky was almost completely clear, but was dotted in several places with small, white clouds. The sunlight playing across her skin, warming it quickly...freedom to go outside had been one of the things she missed most during her time in the prison. The limit had been one hour a day outside at most, and that was only when the wardens felt like keeping an eye on all of the prisoners.
Brea turned with a start as the large doors opened again...a young man, who looked around 20, had stepped out with a stupid grin on his face and nearly flung himself onto the ground outside of the court room, rolling luxuriantly in the grass. Brea allowed a shadow of a smile to play across her lips as she watched him.
"Sure is good to be back, dontcha think?" He asked, his voice thick with an Australian accent, as he grinned up at her. She immediately sobered, allowing a finger to brush over the small star charm hanging around her neck.
"It'd be better if everything wasn't gone..." She tried to blink back the tears that were threatening to overflow, but one managed to escape and leave a trail down her face. The man stood quickly and laid a comforting hand on her shoulder, giving it a squeeze.
"Wherever they are, you just have to remember that they're safe. They're ok, and none of them will ever forget you."
Brea gave a quick nod, then looked away from the man, regaining control of her emotions. She forced a small smile onto her lips before looking back at him. Sliding down to sit on the ground, back against a thick, white column, Brea allowed herself to think of the first time she had started in Neopia...
"We have no idea who you are, wonderbreadgirl, or where you came from...but after a lot of discussion the faerie's have decided to let you attempt to integrate." The doctor said, staring solemnly across the table at her. A smile passed over his features and he lowered his voice. "The Darkness Faerie who found you said she wishes that she had just kept you to use for some experiments, so you should consider yourself lucky."
She let out a soft laugh before snapping her mouth shut as the Darkness Faerie entered the room.
"They think you're half-Vampire. A dark creature...good news for you, because otherwise I would have worked hard against you being allowed to integrate. Unfortunately the dark blood is marred by your one-quarter elven, one-quarter human background...but I've learned to roll with the punches. Don't expect any special help from the faeries just because you're an exception to the norm though, Wonderbread. A transport to the registration center is waiting outside, and you'll receive further instructions there."
The Australian shook her shoulder softly, jolting her out of her memory.
"Everyone's through now, miss. I didn't think that you wanted to be left behind." He motioned to the transport, which was now being filled by the people who had just been on trial inside. Brea gave the man an appreciative smile and stood, heading for the transport herself, he following right behind her.
"Are you planning on creating a pet once we get there? Or perhaps going to the adoption agency?" He asked cheerily as they stepped onto the hover-bus and took the last two seats, situated in the very back.
"Oh, no..." She said, shaking her head. "I pick up strays, usually...the pets that are hanging around in the market begging for food and money. Those're the ones who usually have the hardest times finding homes"
The Australian continued the chatter cheerfully for the entire half-hour ride, and Brea was surprised to find that she actually enjoyed his company.
Here I was thinking that I had become a complete anti-social. She thought, smiling to herself as the transport pulled to a stop, finally having reached it's destination. When she stepped out of the bus, she was surprised to see that the registration center was packed and bustling...humans and half-breeds of every ethnicity imaginable all crowded around the building, attempting to get their papers of Neopian citizenship verified. The Create-A-Pet center, right next door, was equally crowded, and the food shop across the street was also bustling with people waiting impatiently for a restock.
"All people from the prison, this way!" One of the transport drivers called, beckoning to the small group and elbowing his way through the crowd. Brea followed the pack of people, trailing just behind them but being sure to keep her eyes on the driver. He led them straight to the front of the line and stood by as each of them had their papers recreated...they were to have new lives, starting clean. Brea was the last of the ex-prisoners to step up to the window, and the woman there greeted her with a grumpy frown.
"Name?" She snapped.
"You have me on files as Wonderbreadgirl." Brea said softly.
"What do you want to be your new name, then, girl?" The woman talked to her like she was a disobedient four-year-old. Brea rolled her eyes, trying to make it as obvious to the woman as possible.
"ChaoticFyre, ma'am." The woman quickly typed the name in and tapped her fingers impatiently as the registration sheet printed. When it did she quickly pulled it off of the tray and signed it, handing it to Brea and motioning to a small line on the bottom.
"Sign your name, quickly now!" Brea reached for a pen beside the window and quickly signed her name in loopy cursive along the line. The old woman glanced at the signature sharply, gave an approving nod, then threw a small bag of NP's and a package of four items at her unceremoniously.
"Next!" She called, before even waiting for a thank you. Brea shrugged and turned to find her way out of the crowd. She glanced down at her watch, realizing it was only 11:00 AM Neopian Standard.
This is going to be one long day. She sighed.
Author's Notes~ Umm...I don't really have any notes, but I just wanted to let you know that that was the end of the chapter, because I'm going to reply to the reviews I got :-P
RainbowTerrorist~ I thought so too, that's why I had them ^_~ But actually, most of them were adopted from my friend who started but then got bored...I only created three of them. I'm glad you liked the story :-)
PsyPaw~ See above ^ Anyhow, I've written more now...and I may actually, for once, finish a story. Not a very common occurance...they usually get abandoned about halfway through :-P
Eien Aeolaro~ Thanks a bunch! I'm having fun writing it right now, so I probably will continue...when I start getting bored with the concept though, that's when I usually quit ^_~